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Great Ape Protection Act Reaches Senate

The PCRM Legislative Fund’s campaign to end chimpanzee experiments took a critical step forward in August with the introduction of a bipartisan Senate bill. Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, and Maine Sen. Susan Collins introduced the Great Ape Protection Act, S. 3694, a parallel bill to the House version, H.R. 1326. These bills would end the use of chimpanzees in invasive experiments, release more than 500 federally owned chimpanzees to permanent sanctuaries, and prohibit the breeding of chimpanzees for research.

“Millions of wasted dollars and decades of failed experiments have demonstrated that chimpanzees are poor models for researching human disease,” says PCRM director of research policy Hope Ferdowsian, M.D., M.P.H. “This new bill would release chimpanzees and ensure that tax dollars are not wasted on these cruel, failed experiments.”

The Legislative Fund team continues to meet with Senate offices to garner additional support for S. 3694. The House bill has gained significant momentum and now has nearly 150 co-sponsors.